


Birds of a feather

by toqueso



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Birds, Atem Stays, M/M, Post-Ceremonial Duel, Yami Yuugi | Atem Has His Own Body
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27707216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toqueso/pseuds/toqueso
Summary: Domino's weirdest flock gains its newest member.
Relationships: Atem/Mutou Yuugi, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi
Comments: 11
Kudos: 33





	Birds of a feather

The moment they exited the plane back from Egypt, one ex-pharaoh unexpectedly in tow, the first words out of Jounouchi's mouth were: "So when are we going to see your bird form?"

His face fell as soon as he looked at Atem. The man in question was essentially asleep standing up, only vertical by the grace of leaning on Yuugi. Atem woke briefly at Yuugi's gentle nudge and mumbled, "What was that?"

Jounouchi hesitated whereas Kaiba did not. "We're flying Sunday at ten. Takeoff at Kame Game." he snapped. "You're all free then; I've already looked into your schedules."

Anzu frowned a bit at the discourtesy and Otogi grimaced, but Ryou seemed flattered that Kaiba had even bothered to find out. "Works for me!" he chirped.

"Who wants to fly with you anyways!" Jounouchi shouted at Kaiba.

Honda looked as unconscious as Atem, but somehow placed a restraining hand on Jounouchi's shoulder through some sixth sense.

Kaiba sneered right back. "Don't flatter yourself. I only care about what this...other Yuugi turns into." He paused. "Probably a cockatoo," he said, looking pointedly at Atem's hair.

Yuugi patted his own head and tried to not feel too offended. "We can make definitive plans for a flight _later_." he said. "But right now, I'd really like it if Other Me -- Atem -- could get some sleep."

Anzu, his eternal savior, backed him up. "Like Yuugi said, we're all dead on our feet. We can talk about this later."

Otogi took Anzu's cue and started shepherding everyone away from the luggage carousel and towards the taxi pickup. "Alright, alright, let's get going!"

They all stumbled their way into separate cabs, even Kaiba, and rode home in a dazed silence. Honestly, a flight… from his position slumped against Atem, Yuugi had to smile. Leave it to Kaiba-kun to always be thinking of the next thing. He, on the other hand, was still stuck in the miracle of Atem's presence.

"I can't wait to meet your other form," Yuugi whispered, and giggled when Atem snored in reply.

* * *

Despite Jounouchi's protests, Kaiba was spot on about their schedules -- Sunday mornings were their usual flock time, even if not everybody could make it. The following Sunday morning found Atem and Yuugi still huddled around each other underneath the covers, ostensibly getting ready to receive their friends.

"We should get up at some point," Yuugi said, making no attempt to move.

Atem snuggled closer and draped a heavy arm over Yuugi's belly. "Or we could call the others and tell them we're not feeling well. I am not ready to share you with everyone quite yet."

Yuugi was instantly both deeply touched and deeply suspicious. "You don't want to do a group flight?"

"It seems unnecessary." Atem said coolly. "After all, I've already flown with everyone multiple times."

"Yeah, as _me_." Yuugi pointed out. "And you weren't very good at it."

It was true. As an albatross, Yuugi was pretty sturdy, relatively speaking -- but flights where Atem had taken over had always left Yuugi with an assortment of bruises from where he had driven their body into skyscrapers, TV antennas, and on one memorable occasion, a taiyaki stand. Only his continued enthusiasm had persuaded Yuugi to endure, which made Atem's sudden reticence all the stranger.

Atem looked genuinely offended. "I was impeccable!"

"You flew into _everything_!"

"I did not."

"Yes you did!"

"No, I did not."

"Yes you -- oh, forget this." Yuugi sighed.

He wiggled out from underneath Atem's now-sweaty limb and clasped his hand instead. "What's your real hang-up? What are you worried about?"

"I am not worried about anything." Atem said in his I-am-worried voice.

Yuugi rewarded _that_ answer with a deeply skeptical noise. Although their mindlink had apparently disappeared after the gods had granted Atem his own body, it wasn't as if Yuugi had suddenly forgot everything about his Other Self.

"I am not," Atem insisted.

"I'm just saying, you love flying." Yuugi pointed out calmly. "You always talk about how Kaiba comes up with the best formations, and how it's always so invigorating to soar with him, and how much you _adore_ his gliding patterns -- "

"I have never said that."

Okay, so maybe Yuugi had taken some creative liberties on that last one, but the rest were all verbatim. "So what's eating you?"

Atem was quiet.

"If you don't want to, I'll call them right now to cancel." Yuugi promised. "It's just that… you always looked forward to this, before."

Atem didn't say anything for a few moments, then visibly relaxed, the sheets creasing under his suddenly limp body. "I… my other form, it's not like yours. We don't look the same at all."

Oh. Yuugi turned on his side and put his arm around his Other Self, cradling him so their foreheads touched. He looked into Atem's eyes and told him the truth. "I would recognize you as the other half of my soul no matter what you look like in _any_ form." He stopped, thought, then added, "Even if Kaiba-kun is right and you are a cockatoo."

Yuugi accepted the ensuing pillow-to-the-face as a just punishment.

After smothering Yuugi to his heart's content, Atem relented but still showed no interest in rising from the swathe of blankets piled on Yuugi's twin bed. "Fine, let them come. But there's no sense in getting ready now if I'll just be taking everything off in thirty minutes."

Still half-buried, Yuugi waggled his eyebrows. "We-ell, if you're not going to get dressed…"

Atem eyed him contemplatively before suddenly rolling them into a combined lump, cutting off Yuugi's yelp by laying right on top of him. He kissed away Yuugi's laughter as best he could and said, "I see now. You just want me for my _body_."

"A couple of other things too!"

"Only a couple?"

"Yeah, only one or two -- _mm_ , Other Me, do that again…"

In the end, they distracted themselves sufficiently long enough that by the time the rest of the gang was set to arrive, Yuugi had to sprint out of bed and dress himself, leaving Atem in their room to shift alone. It was a little disappointing that he wouldn't be able to see Atem's form first, just the two of them -- but it would be a fun thing to share with everybody, so he couldn't be too let down.

Yuugi had just made it to the foot of the stairs when the doorbell rang. He hurried forward to open the door and looked up to meet Otogi's grin. "Morning, Yuugi!"

"Morning, Otogi-kun!" Yuugi peered behind his friend and saw the rest of the gang in tow, even Kaiba. "You all made it okay!"

"No thanks to this loser." Honda jabbed his thumb at Jounouchi. "Dude almost got run over on the way over; he was so pumped."

"Shaddup!" Jounouchi shouted back, good-naturedly.

"I'm glad the bus driver stopped in time." Ryou said. "But wouldn't it be funny if Jounouchi-kun really did get hit?"

Anzu giggled. "Ryou-kun, that's not very nice... it really would have been, though!"

Even Kaiba cracked a smile at that, which Jounouchi took an immediate offense to. In the interest of stopping a fight at their storefront (not all publicity was good publicity, despite what his grandfather claimed), Yuugi quickly ushered them all inside and up the narrow staircase. "Other Me's already shifted," he explained, and knocked on their bedroom door. "Decent?"

A sharp cry answered, and Yuugi slowly turned the knob open.

A medium-sized bird nested comfortably in the same spot Yuugi had left Atem in not ten minutes before. Two dark streaks descended from its eyes, mimicking tear trails that tapered into points at the base of its neck. Its dark brown wings cradled a fluffy, barred belly, pale feathers at the neck deepening into a dusty gold near the sharp claws partially obscured by the bedsheets. Even from a cursory glance, it was entirely unlike those of them who had been born in Japan, a body tuned for hunting in a vast, open desert and not for soaring over endless roiling waves. The bird turned its head to face them, giving a tentative chirp at the group of teenagers staring at it in silence.

Yuugi froze in place. It was true, they looked nothing alike -- but Yuugi wouldn't have traded this sight of Atem's other form for anything in the world.

Jounouchi broke him out of his awed reverie by bursting into laughter. "No wonder you kept flying into shit! You're _tiny_ compared to Yuugi!"

Atem hunkered down and ruffled his feathers indignantly. His disgruntlement deepened upon spotting Kaiba's enormous smirk.

Ryou cocked his head to the side. "You look like those statues of Horus in the museum."

Yuugi finally found his words and walked closer, a bit wobbly in the legs. "Other Me, you look so cool!"

Atem abruptly switched from murderous to adoring. He cooed and hopped out of the bed and onto Yuugi's house slipper, but carefully arranged his talons so they wouldn't pierce through the thin fabric. He plastered himself right up against Yuugi's leg, tickling the inside of Yuugi's ankle with the tips of his wings, and fluffed himself up into a contented ball.

Kaiba's face shuttered. "Enough talk, let's go!" 

Anzu quickly exited the crowded space with the familiarity gained through many flights from Kame Game, beelining towards Yuugi's mother's room to change. There were a few grumbles from the rest, but they all shuffled into the room and quickly turned around to give each other as much privacy as they could while undressing, six men and one falcon crammed together in Yuugi's little attic bedroom. 

Yuugi had gotten his shirt halfway unbuttoned (was Atem _leering_ at him?) when he heard a polite tap on the door, accompanied by an inquisitive chattering that informed him Anzu had finished. "Not yet, Anzu-chan!" He hollered.

"Speak for yourself!"

Yuugi had one moment to register the triumphant note in Jounouchi's voice before he barely avoided getting clipped in the head with a dark grey wing. "Aw, Jounouchi-kun!"

Jounouchi hooted and waggled his tail. Across the room, Kaiba hissed threateningly at the display, already fully shifted and white coat folded neatly on Yuugi's desk. Yuugi's first thought was _wow!_ , because that was fast -- and the second was _oh no_ , because the incidence rate of violence increased exponentially the longer Kaiba and Jounouchi shared an enclosed space.

"I've got the window, Yuugi," Honda said, hopping out of his jeans, and ran over to slide the glass open.

Jounouchi and Kaiba tore outside, their honks echoing behind them. Ever the peacemaker, Honda hurtled himself out of the window to break it up, but the sounds of an aerial spat grew louder rather than quieter. It was par for the course, really -- the only thing a shifted Jounouchi liked better than scent-tracking pizza was hounding Kaiba.

"Better hurry before someone loses a wing," Otogi muttered.

Ryou croaked in agreement atop his clothing pile, but made no move to leave, instead burying his beak into his white plumage and preening quietly. Clearly, getting in the middle of Jounouchi and Kaiba's ongoing feud was not one of his higher priorities. Otogi shed the last vestiges of his human form as well, joining Ryou on the pile by jostling him over gently.

"Am I seriously the last one again?" Yuugi moaned.

He returned to unbuttoning, but quickly stopped upon noticing Atem's piercing stare. Yuugi's skin began to crawl with heat. "Other Me!"

Atem did the falcon-equivalent of an eye-roll before continuing to stare pointedly. Yuugi could practically hear Atem's response -- something like _nothing I haven't seen before_.

Otogi gave a shrill whistle that intensified the warmth on Yuugi's skin. "Otogi-kun, Ryou-kun, please!"

Ryou cawed teasingly in response, but obediently hopped his way to the window and launched himself out of it; Otogi made one last whinnying call before following suit. Yuugi waited until their wingbeats grew faint before whirling back to Atem, who was entertaining himself by plucking at the loose thread on Yuugi's slipper. "There's no chance you're going to leave either, is there?"

Atem's eyes closed in contentment, which was as good as a bird smile as Yuugi was going to get. In other words -- a no.

"You're horrible," Yuugi told him mock-sternly, and tried to ignore Atem's gleeful shrieks as he quickly shucked all his clothes onto his unmade bed before shifting faster than he ever had before.

By the time Yuugi and Atem made it outside, the rest of the gang had congregated semi-peacefully on the Kame store roof. Jounouchi was sulkily nursing a few frazzled feathers, and Kaiba had a mark on his chest that looked suspiciously like an impression of Anzu's webbed foot. She perched gracefully between the two in a way that made clear she was ready to deal more damage if necessary. Close to the chimney, Ryou was cheerfully divebombing a scrambling Honda while Otogi watched on and cackled every time Honda shrieked.

Yuugi chirped for their attention, and was gratified to see Kaiba give him a slow bob of acknowledgement. Kaiba surveyed their group with critical black eyes before jerking his graceful neck to the sky and launching himself off with a running start, always the first to go.

They all took off in pursuit.

Their group was one of the more distinctive, even for their large city. Most flocks tended to share at least one common set of characteristics, but nobody was truly alike in theirs, not in habitat, shape, nor size. One gossip magazine, eager to characterize the flock of Kaiba Corporation's CEO with some pithy phrase, had termed it "the weirdest flock in Domino." The title had bothered Yuugi a bit at first -- there was nothing strange about his friends! -- but he had learned to wear it with pride.

Honda tended to stay in the back of the pack, keeping a close eye over everyone to ensure nobody was left behind. Jounouchi often stayed by him to do the same, and the two would regularly swap places over the course of a long flight, grey and black moving in perfect synchronicity. 

Anzu, Ryou, and Otogi usually filled out the middle, contrasting where Jounouchi and Honda complemented. Anzu's white throat and red crown stood in stark relief against Otogi's black-tipped sienna wings, while Ryou hovered at the side, an all-white plumage with dark, intelligent eyes.

Yuugi -- and Atem, when it had been his turn at the helm -- always led in front. As the one with the largest wingspan, his body helped draft and block the strong winds from buffeting the smaller members. On the rare occasions where Kaiba joined, he hovered near them, always out of reach -- but never out of sight.

They all took turns flying with Atem by their side, but it was evident from the beginning where he belonged. By the time they had reached the docks, Atem had solidified his position right behind Yuugi, close enough that he could reach out and nip Yuugi's tailfeathers.

Kaiba trumpeted commandingly and they all wheeled westward, looping back towards the business district. 

As they began to weave between the crowded skyscrapers, Atem nearly smacked into him slingshotting around Kaiba Corporation tower. Yuugi squawked in brief indignation, but gave way to fondness. He honked at Atem teasingly and was delighted when his partner warbled right back.

After all, they had the rest of their lives together to perfect their flights.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought of Yuugi's bird form, specifically, as the short-tailed albatross. They nest in Japan, where they are called the "idiot bird" for their overly trusting nature. Although their wingspans are relatively large (up to 2.3 meters), they're on the medium size for albatrosses in general.
> 
> if you have bird form headcanons please @ me i am ready and willing to receive!!


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